Pocket filter



July 10, 1956 R. E. STADELMAN 2,754,001

POCKET FILTER Filed July 13, 1954 INVENTOR.

VMC/@Zwan POCKET FILTER Raymond E. Stadelman, Baton Rouge, La. Application July 13, 1954, Serial No. 443,051 1 Claim. (Cl. 210-149) This invention relates to improvements in pocket water filters, and more particularly to a disposable suction pocket filter, the primary object of the invention being to provide a novel, practical, and efficient device of this kind which is compact and light in weight, and occupies minimum space when carried in a pocket and in storage.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a device of the character indicated above which has the general form and size of a tongue depressor, and has a designated end for immersion in water to be ltered, the other end being adapted to be placed in the mouth whereby the proper end for use in the mouth cannot be mistaken, even in the dark, the immersion end of the device being arranged to be immersed directly in the water to be filtered and to be drunk from the mouth end of the device.

A further important object of the invention is to provide a device of the character indicated above which can be made in a serviceable and attractive form at relatively low cost.

Other important objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein, for purposes of illustration only, a specific embodiment of the invention is set forth in detail.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l Figure 3 is a transverse of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional and elevational view showing thei device in use by a person drinking from a container; an

Figure 5 is a sectional and elevation View showing the device in a siphon circuit for withdrawing water from one container, filtering the water, and discharging the water into another container.

Referring in detail to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, the illustrated filter device, generally designated 7, compr1ses an elongated filter strip or plate 8, preferably havmg a length of slightly under six inches and a width of about one inch, enclosed in a transparent, preferably plastic material case 9, only slightly longer and wider than the filter strip 8. The strip 8 has parallel side edges 10, 10 and end edges 11, 11.

The filter strip 8 is of ceramic material of a type, now on the market, having pores large enough to permit easy suction of water therethrough but small enough to prevent passage therethrough of known disease organisms, other than viruses.

The case 9 is composed of two similar elongated transparent plastic plates 12, 12 having rounded ends 13, 13 and having on one side narrow n'bs 14, 14 extending *consection taken on the line 3 3 2,754,001 Patented July 10, 1956 tinuously along the side and end edges of the plates. The ribs 14, 14 have longitudinal notches 15, 15 located at the laterally inward corners of the ribs, so that when the plates 12, 12 are superimposed and the ribs registered, the notches define a continuous groove 16 receiving the side edges 10, 10 and end edges 11, 11 of the filter strip.

The ribs 14 and the edges of the filter strip are connected and sealed together, preferably by fusion under heat and pressure.

A water intake hole 17 is provided in one of the plates 12 near one end of the case 9, and a suction or drinking hole 18 is provided in the other plate 12 near the opposite end of the case 9, the holes 17 and 18 thereby communicating solely with the related spaces within the case 9 at opposite sides of the filter strip 8.

On an area around the intake hole 17 and extending inwardly beyond the hole 17, both sides of the case 9, that is, both plates 12, 12 are provided externally with a number of sharp points 20 which serve to distinguish the intake end of the case from the drinking or suction end of the case and prevent the putting of the usually contaminated intake end of the device into the mouth in error. The points 2f) can be felt by the fingers and recognized even when they cannot be seen, as in the dark.

In use, the intake end of the device is immersed in the water to be filtered and drunk, as from a container 21, as shown in Figure 4, at least to a depth at which the intake hole 17 is below water level, and the suction end of the device is placed in the mouth and suction applied thereto. This will cause water from the container to enter the case 9 at the intake hole side of the filter strip 8, pass through the filter strip and thereby be stripped of contaminating material, and pass from the other side of the filter strip 8 to the suction hole 18, directly into the mouth of the user.

As shown in Figure 5, the device 7 may be used in a siphon circuit simply by wedging one end of a first tube 22 into the intake hole 17 and placing its other end in water 23 in a container 24 and wedging one end of a second tube 25 into the suction hole 18 and placing its other end in or over a second container 26, the device 7 being supported by suitable means (not shown) at a declining angle toward its suction end. To start the siphon flow of water from the container 24 to the container 26, suction is initially applied to the free end of the tube 25.

While I have illustrated and described the invention in some detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to such details, but only by the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A portable filter comprising two fiat half sections, said half sections having straight edges and being relatively long in one dimension and narrow in the other, said sections having inwardly turned abutting flanges sealed together along their edges to form an elongated pocket interiorly of said sections, a groove on the interior of said flanges, a fiat filter plate bisecting said pocket, said filter plate being held by the grooves in said flanges, openings in said flat sections, said openings being adjacent the ends of said sections and communicating with opposite sides of said filter plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 435,921 Crockett Sept. 9, 1890 890,989 Knight June 16, 1908 1,261,558 Lackland Apr. 2, 1918 1,475,577 Green Nov. 27, 1923 1,749,730 Kenney Mar. 4, 1930 

